\u201cYou are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.\u201d<\/p>\n
So wrote the Lebanese poet and artist Kahil Gibran. I was of a generation that read his book \u201cThe Prophet\u201d in my teenage years, when I thought it profound, and threw it away in my college years, finding it treacly and obvious. And now? I\u2019ve come around on the guy. Maybe it has something to do with having been a bow myself and watching the living arrows fly.<\/p>\n
In our industry, the living arrows are rockets with tails of fire. But the principle is the same. Privileged to work in the world\u2019s most exciting technology industry, we are here not only for our own benefit but to help the next generation take flight.<\/p>\n
Why is it a part of our duty to teach the next generation about space and satellite? For one thing, we owe it to the Apollo generation, the people who grew up in the \u201960s and emerged inspired by the challenge of space. They are the people on whose shoulders the commercial space industry stands today, and we would not be here without them.<\/p>\n
We also need the talent. We need it today. In the U.K., the Space Skills Alliance forecast demand for more than 30,000 new workers \u2013 but nearly half of organizations say that staff recruitment is a major barrier to growth. In Australia, research by SmartSat found that there are current skills shortages in 97% of space-related fields. Research by the Society for Human Resource Management found that employee retention has become the number one concern of almost half of HR leaders across all industries.<\/p>\n
We also need it tomorrow. Research by the Space Foundation has shown that U.S. enrollment in two-year technical programs for precision manufacturing and related fields has fallen for four straight years. At SATELLITE 2022, Michael Mealing of Starbridge Venture Capital summed it up: \u201cAttracting talent is critical. There are 200,000 jobs in aerospace that aren\u2019t being filled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Complaints about lack of qualified employees have a long history. But we have never heard them be so loud or endure through such a period of sustained strong growth in the industry, fueled by waves of investment and the falling cost of launch.<\/p>\n
At the company level, this is a time for moving beyond platitudes. Talent attraction and retention take long-term commitment. The companies doing well in this area have carefully built relationships with technical schools and universities that feed their internship programs. \u201cRelationship\u201d is the key word. It is not just about showing up on Career Day but getting to know departments and instructors, contributing content and working with placement offices. When local institutions are not teaching the skills they need, companies like Airbus OneWeb Satellites have even spurred the development of apprenticeship programs that mix classroom instruction with work experience.<\/p>\n
We can also make it easier for people entering our industry and changing jobs within it to understand how it really works. I was at a university student space event a couple of years ago when this question came from the audience: \u201cWhen will I be able to have my own personal satellite?\u201d This young person who presumably hoped to work in the industry clearly had no fundamental understanding of it. Ours is a complex technology business with ways of doing business that have evolved over decades \u2013 and ways of doing business being invented right now. Grasping the fundamentals \u2013 the \u201cwhy are things the way they are?\u201d \u2013 is an indispensable first step toward success.<\/p>\n
That is why SSPI, GVF and SatProf have created Space Business Qualified, a set of online courses designed to give people that fundamental grasp. SBQ is for onboarding new hires and training people who are taking on new, broader responsibilities. So far as I know, there\u2019s nothing else like it in online, self-paced industry training.<\/p>\n
There are personal opportunities, too. With the support of Hunter Communications, SSPI has developed three short videos aimed at middle-school to high-school students, each explaining the big role of space and satellite in their daily lives. We will be sharing these videos, \u201cHow Space Saves Lives,\u201d \u201cThe Road to Space,\u201d and \u201cIs There a Satellite Inside?\u201d with science teachers around the world as enrichment material beginning with this year\u2019s World Space Week starting on October 4.<\/p>\n
These are the years when young people are beginning to choose a future, which makes it the ideal time to bring STEM content into their lives. You can do your part by offering to visit classrooms in your community, talk about your work and show a video or two. Most schools and teachers welcome such real-world content because it energizes their students. The videos are free. The psychic rewards? They\u2019re all yours.<\/p>\n
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